Railway-gate.



Patented Nov. 7,1899.

E. ERICKSUN.

RAILWAY GATE. (Application filed-July 29, 1899.]

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 No Modsl.)

:Yzns co..mo1o-v rmo.. WASHINGTON n c UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD ERIOKSON, OF HOOPESTON, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,509, dated November 7, 1899.

Application filed July 29, 1899. Serial No. 725,519. (No model.)

To 00% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD ERIOKSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hoopeston,Vermilion county, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Gates; and my pre ferred manner of carrying out the invention is set forth in the following full, clear, and exact description, terminating with claims particularly specifying the novelty.

This invention relates to railway-gates, and more especially to that class thereof known as rocking, and the object of the same is to produce a gate of this character adapted to rock in the direction in which the train moves.

To this end the invention consists in a rocking railway-gate and mechanism for operating the same, all constructed as hereinafter more fully described and claimed and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 is a cross-section through the track and an elevation of this gate in position to prevent the travel of stock along the track. Fig. .2 is a side elevation of the same and in the same position of parts, with a portion of the gate broken away. Fig. 3 is a plan view with the gate proper inclined so as to permit the passage of a train. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail of certain parts.

Referring to the said drawings, the numerals 1 designate the rails, mounted on ties 2, one of which is depressed lower than the others and extended to either side of the track and carries at its extremities bearings 3, in which is journaled a rock-shaft 4, whose center passes through or beneath the rails, as shown; and in the latter case a depression 200 is formed in the rock-shaft 4 to permit its oscillation beneath the rail. From this shaft rises the gate, which is made in one main memher 5, standing between the rails, and two smaller members 50, standing outside the rails and filling the space between the main member and the fencing 500. At each end of the shaft are mounted loosely thereon eyes 6 at the inner ends of levers 7, which carry weights 8 at their outer ends, and adjacent the eyes the bodies of the levers are cut away, as seen at 9, so as to produce cams 10, normally engaged by pins 11, rising from the shaft. 12 is a stop secured upon one of the two levers at each end of the shaft 4 and having its inner end 13 bent up so as to strike upon the other lever when either lever is raised in the manner hereinafter described. While these levers may exist at only one side of the track if the Weights 8 are sufficiently heavy, I have shown them herein as duplicated at the opposite endof the rock-shaft 4. It will be clear that when the shaft is rocked in one direction one pin 11 engages the cam 10 and raises the lever 7 to the position shown in Fig. 3, until the end 13 of the stop 12 strikes the other lever, and on release of the rockshaft these levers fall back to their former places and cause the gate to resume an upright position. It will also be clear that during this movement the other pin 11 turns within the cut-away portion 9 of the lever, which does not rise, and thus has a certain lost motion.

20 2O designate presser-bars standing alongside the rails 1 and supported by pivoted links 21, as best seen in Fig. 2, the ends of these bars being beveled, as shown, and their bodies being of sufficient length to be depressed by the front wheels of the locomotives and to be held down flush with the rails until the last car of the train has passed. About the center of each bar is an car 22, carrying an outwardly-projecting pin 23, which passes through a slotted lug 24, rising from the rockshaft 4, the pin standing normally near the lower end of the slot therein, as seen in the drawings.

WVith the above construction of parts a train approaching in either direction strikes the beveled ends of the presser-bars 20 and gives them a forward and downward movement permitted by the links 21. This causes the pins 23 to move in the slotted lugs 24, and since said pins stand nearer to the axial line of the shaft 4 than the length of the links 21 it is clear that they will turn the shaft and throw the gate down rather suddenly, this turning movement being away from the approaching train, so that no accident will result in event of tardy action. The swinging of the gate raises one pair of weighted levers, and after the train passes off the presser-bars these levers cause the gate to resume its normal position, in which it fills out the break inthe fencing 500.

All parts are of the desired sizes, shapes, proportions, and materials, and such changes in details maybe made as do not depart from the spirit of my invention.

It is obviously the function of the stops 12 to prevent the gate from being thrown downward and the levers upward so far as to cause anybreakage of the mechanism. \Vhen the gate stands upright, the two pins 11 at each end of the shaft engage the two cams 10, so as to hold the gate in this position with sufficient force to prevent its being pushed aside by stock.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a railway-gate, the combination with a rock-shaft extending transversely across the rails, a gate proper mounted thereon, and mechanism forautomatically rocking the shaft on the passage of a train; of two oppositelydisposed weighted levers having eyes surrounding the shaft, one side of each eye being cut away so as to leave an outwardly-facing cam, and pins in the shaft normally in contact with such cams, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a railway-gate, the combination with a rock-shaft extending transversely across the rails, a gate proper mounted thereon, and mechanism for automatically rocking the shaft on the passage of a train; of two oppositely disposed weighted levers having eyes surrounding the shaft, one side of each eye being cut away so as to leave an outwardly-facing cam, pins in the shaft normally in contact with such cams, and a stop secured upon one lever and having its inner end upturned so as to contact with the other lever when either lever is raised, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a railway-gate, the combination with a rock-shaft transverse to the track, a gate proper rising therefrom, and Weighted levers for holding this gate normallyin an elevated position; of a presser-bar standing alongside the rail and beveled at its extremities, links pivotally supporting said bar, an ear depending from its center and having a pin, and a lug rising from said shaft and having a slot receiving the pin, the distance from the pin to the axis of the shaft being less than the length of said links, as and for the purpose set forth.

4:. In a railway-gate, the combination with a transverse rock-shaft supporting the gate proper, weighted levers atits extremities having eyes journaled on the shaft and cut away so as to give lost motion, and stops on the levers at one side of the shaft adapted to engage the levers at the other side thereof when either pair of levers is raised; of presserbars standing just outside the rails, normally upright links pivoted at their lower ends to the rails and at their upper ends to said bars, outwardly-projecting pins at the centers of the latter, and lugs rising from the rock-shaft and having slots engaging said pins, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my signature this the th day of July, A. D. 1809.

EDWARD ERICKSON.

Witnesses:

D. D. GILMAN, IDA L. MILLER. 

